AnimeCentral
Encyclopedia
Anime Central was a British
television channel owned by CSC Media Group. The channel launched on 13 September 2007. It was first announced on 5 August 2007 though its licence first appeared on the Ofcom website in January (initially named "Toon TV", this was changed to Anime Central in June). The channel ran from 9pm to 6am, free-to-air on Sky Digital's Digital TV Platform, channel 199; and it was the only channel broadcast in the UK and Ireland which was dedicated solely to showing Anime
.
Anime was only broadcast between 9pm and 6am. The channel originally timeshared with Pop Girl
(another CSC Media Group channel) but more bandwidth was made available removing the need for the channel to timeshare. The extra broadcast capacity was then filled with the channel ident or teleshopping. The channel was shutdown on 27 August 2008 being replaced with Showcase TV
but Anime Central continued to be shown as a programming block on Showcase TV every night between 4am and 6am. Showcase TV was renumbered to channel 188 at the beginning of September 2008. On August 3, 2009 Showcase TV became True Entertainment
and the Anime Central programming block was removed completely.
Initially the channel did not broadcast in anamorphic widescreen
. Programmes made in 16:9
format were screened in letterbox
format. In 2008 a few late-season episodes of Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: 2nd Gig were screened in 16:9 anamorphic.
Nine consecutive episodes of a series were shown each day to form a 4½ hour block, except on the final day of each series' marathon which had fewer episodes. Each block was repeated until 6:00am.
no longer listed Anime Central as a licensed channel, reinforcing the long-standing speculation on the Anime Central forums that the channel would soon close. However, the same OFCOM data indicated that CSC Media Group is set to start a new cartoon channel called True Entertainment
, prompting further speculation on the Anime Central Forums that some of the channel's programming could move to the new channel. By 14 June, confirmation that the channels's license to operate was being replaced in favour of True Entertainment, had appeared on OFCOM's monthly updates page for May 2008. Despite a fleeting suggestion on Sky's Electronic Programme Guide that a new schedule, combining content from Pop Girl
, True Movies 2
and Anime Central, might start on 20 August, Sky's EPG quickly reverted to the previous schedule of triple bills and teleshopping. On 26 August 2008, True Entertainment's OFCOM Licence was re-named to Showcase TV and Showcase TV launched the following day. Anime Central survived as a 3-hour block of programming from midnight to 3am, using the channel's original idents, DOG and continuity announcements. At the beginning of the new schedule the block carried the same triple bills of Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex that were previously seen in rotation on the full-time channel, however, after 7 October 2008, Anime Central's slot was further reduced to two hours, showing double bills of Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. On August 3, 2009, the last double bills of Cowboy Bebop and Ghost In The Shell were shown and Showcase TV was replaced by True Entertainment. True Entertainment shows no signs of airing any anime and it's not even known if CSC Media longer owns the rights to any anime shows.
In August 2009 the forums were closed to members and non members, those who tried to access the forums would receive the message "Closed for cleanup and restructuring".
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television channel owned by CSC Media Group. The channel launched on 13 September 2007. It was first announced on 5 August 2007 though its licence first appeared on the Ofcom website in January (initially named "Toon TV", this was changed to Anime Central in June). The channel ran from 9pm to 6am, free-to-air on Sky Digital's Digital TV Platform, channel 199; and it was the only channel broadcast in the UK and Ireland which was dedicated solely to showing Anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
.
Anime was only broadcast between 9pm and 6am. The channel originally timeshared with Pop Girl
Pop Girl
Pop Girl is a free-to-air television channel owned by CSC Media Group, showing cartoons, live action and pop music videos for girls aged 6 to 16...
(another CSC Media Group channel) but more bandwidth was made available removing the need for the channel to timeshare. The extra broadcast capacity was then filled with the channel ident or teleshopping. The channel was shutdown on 27 August 2008 being replaced with Showcase TV
Showcase TV
Showcase TV was a television channel in the United Kingdom that replaced AnimeCentral on 27 August 2008. It showed a mixture of different content from other CSC Media Group channels such as Pop Girl, Chart Show TV, True Movies 2 and had retained some AnimeCentral programming, in its own block...
but Anime Central continued to be shown as a programming block on Showcase TV every night between 4am and 6am. Showcase TV was renumbered to channel 188 at the beginning of September 2008. On August 3, 2009 Showcase TV became True Entertainment
True Entertainment
True Entertainment is the television channel in the United Kingdom that replaced Showcase TV on 3 August 2009. The change was originally scheduled to happen on 1 July 2009, but a late change put the change "on hold until further notice". True Entertainment launched on August 3, 2009...
and the Anime Central programming block was removed completely.
Programming
The regular schedule comprised six series, with a different episode broadcast every day. These made a three-hour block, which was then repeated twice through to 6:00am. Each series was usually repeated once before a major schedule change was made, unless the series was much longer than the standard length of 26 episodes. On 1 March 2008 the schedule changed, first to three double-bills, then to two triple-bills. The reasons for the change were unknown and reactions to this change on the channel's forum were generally negative.Initially the channel did not broadcast in anamorphic widescreen
Anamorphic widescreen
Anamorphic widescreen, when applied to DVD manufacture, is a video process that horizontally squeezes a widescreen image so that it can be stored in a standard 4:3 aspect ratio DVD image frame. Compatible playback equipment can then re-expand the horizontal dimension to show the original widescreen...
. Programmes made in 16:9
16:9
16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ...
format were screened in letterbox
Letterbox
Letterboxing is the practice of transferring film shot in a widescreen aspect ratio to standard-width video formats while preserving the film's original aspect ratio. The resulting videographic image has mattes above and below it; these mattes are part of the image...
format. In 2008 a few late-season episodes of Ghost In the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: 2nd Gig were screened in 16:9 anamorphic.
Anime programmes that aired on AnimeCentral
- BleachBleach (manga)is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Noriaki "Tite" Kubo. Bleach follows the adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki after he obtains the powers of a —a death personification similar to the Grim Reaper—from another Soul Reaper, Rukia Kuchiki...
- Cowboy BebopCowboy Bebopis a critically acclaimed and award-winning 1998 Japanese anime series directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, written by Keiko Nobumoto, and produced by Sunrise. Its 26 episodes comprise a complete storyline: set in 2071, the series follows the adventures, misadventures and tragedies of five bounty...
- Fullmetal AlchemistFullmetal Alchemist, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. The world of Fullmetal Alchemist is styled after the European Industrial Revolution...
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (1st GIG)Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complexis an anime television series produced by Production I.G and based on Masamune Shirow's manga Ghost in the Shell. It was written and directed by Kenji Kamiyama, with original character design by Hajime Shimomura and a soundtrack by Yoko Kanno...
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2nd GIG)Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIGis the second season of the anime series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, based on Masamune Shirow's manga Ghost in the Shell. It was written and directed by Kenji Kamiyama, with original character design by Hajime Shimomura and a soundtrack by Yoko Kanno...
- G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
- Gundam SEED
- .hack//SIGN.hack//SIGN.hack//Sign is an anime television series directed by Kōichi Mashimo and produced by studio Bee Train and Bandai Visual, that makes up one of the four original storylines of the .hack franchise...
- PlanetesPlanetesis a Japanese hard science fiction manga by Makoto Yukimura. It was adapted as a 26-episode television anime by Sunrise, which was broadcast on NHK from October 2003 through April 2004...
- s-CRY-edS-CRY-ed, also known as s.CRY.ed or Scryed, is a 26 episode Japanese anime TV series, produced by Sunrise, directed by Gorō Taniguchi and written by Yōsuke Kuroda, which first aired in Japan on TV Tokyo and Animax. The music for the series was composed by Kōtarō Nakagawa...
- Transformers: The HeadmastersTransformers: The Headmastersis a Japanese anime television series.-Development:Inititally, Takara, the Japanese producers of the Transformers toyline, imported the American Transformers cartoon series from 1985 to 1986...
- Transformers: Super-God Masterforce
- Transformers: VictoryTransformers: Victory, commonly shortened to simply Transformers: Victory, is an anime series produced by Toei Animation. It is a Japanese-produced spin-off of the well-known original Transformers cartoon, and the final complete animated series from the original "Generation 1" era.-Development:Following the conclusion...
- Vision of Escaflowne
- Witch Hunter RobinWitch Hunter Robinis a Japanese anime series created by Sunrise. It follows the STN-J, the Japanese branch of a secret global organization called "SOLOMON" or the "Solomon Toukatsu Nin'idantai" , abbreviated as "STN"....
- Wolf's RainWolf's Rainis an anime series created by writer and story editor Keiko Nobumoto and produced by Bones Studio. The series was directed by Tensai Okamura and featured character designs by Toshihiro Kawamoto with a soundtrack produced and arranged by Yoko Kanno. It focuses on the journey of four lone wolves...
Christmas marathons
Over the 2007 Christmas season, from 21 December 2007 until 4 January 2008, the regular schedule was replaced by marathons of these 3 popular anime shows:- Cowboy Bebop (21 December 2007 - 23 December 2007)
- Fullmetal Alchemist (24 December 2007 - 29 December 2007)
- Bleach (30 December 2007 - 4 January 2008)
Nine consecutive episodes of a series were shown each day to form a 4½ hour block, except on the final day of each series' marathon which had fewer episodes. Each block was repeated until 6:00am.
Subtitling
Although all series were initially broadcast in English, a popular topic of discussion on the Anime Central forums were member's preferences for Anime dubbed into English or in Japanese with English subtitles. Perhaps as a result of the high demand for both, during late 2007 the last repeat of the night of Cowboy Bebop and .hack//SIGN were broadcast in Japanese with English subtitles.On-screen identity
Throughout the channel's life, it had a consistent red-on-black theme. All the channel's advertising, the "bumpers", the ident cards and the website used this same theme. In response to a request from the channel's brand manager, there was some discussion on the Anime Central Forums about possibly changing the red-on-black theme (amongst other suggestions about programming). However, none of the suggestions were taken up by the channel.Closure and replacement
On 3 June 2008, an updated list of UK TV licenses from OFCOMOfcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
no longer listed Anime Central as a licensed channel, reinforcing the long-standing speculation on the Anime Central forums that the channel would soon close. However, the same OFCOM data indicated that CSC Media Group is set to start a new cartoon channel called True Entertainment
True Entertainment
True Entertainment is the television channel in the United Kingdom that replaced Showcase TV on 3 August 2009. The change was originally scheduled to happen on 1 July 2009, but a late change put the change "on hold until further notice". True Entertainment launched on August 3, 2009...
, prompting further speculation on the Anime Central Forums that some of the channel's programming could move to the new channel. By 14 June, confirmation that the channels's license to operate was being replaced in favour of True Entertainment, had appeared on OFCOM's monthly updates page for May 2008. Despite a fleeting suggestion on Sky's Electronic Programme Guide that a new schedule, combining content from Pop Girl
Pop Girl
Pop Girl is a free-to-air television channel owned by CSC Media Group, showing cartoons, live action and pop music videos for girls aged 6 to 16...
, True Movies 2
True Movies 2
True Movies 2 is a satellite and cable television film channel in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, it is available on Freesat channel 303 and Sky channel 322, and is the second channel from Moving Movies Ltd., majority owned by CSC Media Group...
and Anime Central, might start on 20 August, Sky's EPG quickly reverted to the previous schedule of triple bills and teleshopping. On 26 August 2008, True Entertainment's OFCOM Licence was re-named to Showcase TV and Showcase TV launched the following day. Anime Central survived as a 3-hour block of programming from midnight to 3am, using the channel's original idents, DOG and continuity announcements. At the beginning of the new schedule the block carried the same triple bills of Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex that were previously seen in rotation on the full-time channel, however, after 7 October 2008, Anime Central's slot was further reduced to two hours, showing double bills of Cowboy Bebop and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. On August 3, 2009, the last double bills of Cowboy Bebop and Ghost In The Shell were shown and Showcase TV was replaced by True Entertainment. True Entertainment shows no signs of airing any anime and it's not even known if CSC Media longer owns the rights to any anime shows.
Forum activity
Even though the channel no longer exists as a separate channel, discussion on the channel's internet forum continues with a low level of activity. However, the forum stopped accepting new members in September 2008, and coupled with the discovery by forum members that the domain name registration will expire in November 2009, it has fueled speculation that the forum will soon close completely.In August 2009 the forums were closed to members and non members, those who tried to access the forums would receive the message "Closed for cleanup and restructuring".